It was probably for the best. He was meant to be nothing more than a fleeting memory, a short-lived respite from her humdrum existence. When she was feeling overwhelmed with the mundane routine of her day-to-day life, she would remember the gorgeous stranger she’d met in the islands who, for a few hours, gave her a treasured peek at the old daring Stef.
Willing herself to put last night out of her mind, she looked out over the crowd. Callie and her two best friends, Jada Dangerfield and Kiera Coleman, were on the opposite end of the veranda, intensely studying one of the resort workers who was trying to show them a dance move they were probably learning for the reception after this evening’s wedding. She looked toward the entrance and noticed her mother and father coming up the walkway.
Great. Better to get this over with. She’d been a nurse long enough to know that quickly ripping off a Band-Aid was better than slowly peeling it off the wound.
Stef set her breakfast on the wide railing and walked over to them. “Mom. Dad,” she greeted.
Her mother greeted her with arms outstretched, encompassing Stef in a hug and kissing both her cheeks. She stepped back and motioned to Stef’s sundress.
“You look amazing as always,” her mother said. “It’s too bad Callie didn’t choose light blue as her wedding colors. You could wear this to the wedding this evening.”
“The sage green bridesmaid dress Callie picked out is even more beautiful,” Stef said. She turned to her father.
“How is Jacob?” he asked.
Hello to you, too, Lieutenant Colonel.
“He’s fine,” Stef answered. “I talked to him this morning. Robert and Shelia are taking him to Disney World today.”
“Oh, I know he’s going to love that,” her mother said.
Her father just nodded.
Stef inwardly sighed. It hadn’t always been this way between them. At one time in her life, she’d actually communicated with the stoic soldier standing in front of her. Things had changed twelve years ago, when he’d had to step in and save her ass from the biggest mistake she’d ever made. More than a decade later and Stef was still residing on his bad side. Although, she wasn’t certain he even had a good side anymore.
Her mother announced that she was famished and tugged the Lieutenant Colonel toward the buffet, effectively ending the awkward standoff.
Thank goodness that was over.
Now, if only she could get through the rest of the day without having to interact with him.
Stef turned and her heart stopped.
For a second she thought her mind was playing tricks on her. Dustin had just walked into the space that had been cordoned off for the private wedding breakfast.
She raced toward him, looking over her shoulder, trying her best to shield him from the rest of the wedding party.
“Good morning,” he greeted with that sexy smile that she’d mentally stored away for those days when she needed a little pick-me-up. Warmth flooded her belly at the sound of his honeyed voice, and for the barest moment Stef cursed herself for not staying in his room last night and finishing what they’d started. How amazing would it have been to hear him waking her up with that rich, velvety voice?
Focus!
“What are you doing here?” she hissed. “You can’t be here.”
“Why not? This is considered a common area for resort guests.”
“Not this morning. This is a private event. You can’t be here,” Stef repeated. She glanced over her shoulder again and lowered her voice. “I told you last night that I didn’t want to see you again. Are you stalking me?”
She heard footsteps behind her and turned to find Stefan approaching, a huge smile stretching across his face.
Shit.
But then, in a move that had Stef questioning whether the bright Caribbean sun had blinded her, her brother bypassed her and went straight to Dustin.
“What’s up, Hawk?” Stefan said, holding a hand out to the stranger she’d kissed up against a bedroom wall last night and bringing him in for a one-arm hug. “I was wondering if you’d make it to breakfast. You get everything taken care of on that conference call yesterday?”
What the hell?
“As far as I’m concerned,” Dustin answered with a nod. “But knowing those guys at O&G Tech, they’ll have a new set of demands by the end of the week.”
Stef looked back and forth between the two of them, confusion billowing within her chest.
She turned to her brother. “Do the two of you know each other?” But before Stefan could answer, another thought occurred to her. “Wait a minute. You called him Hawk.” She turned to Dustin. “I thought your name was Dustin?”
“It is,” Dustin said.
“So why is my brother calling you Hawk? And why in the hell do you even know him?” And, oh my God, please don’t let this be what I think it is.
But Stef already knew it was exactly what she thought it was.
She turned back to Stefan, and in a voice that was begging him to tell her she was mistaken, she asked, “Your boss’s name is Hawk, isn’t it?”
“Technically, my boss’s name is Dustin Patrick. We just call him Hawk after the E2-C Hawkeye carrier he flew in the navy,” Stefan explained. “Dustin, meet my twin sister, Stefanie.”
“That is the dumbest nickname I’ve ever heard,” Stef said, ignoring her brother’s introduction. She’d had her tongue down this man’s throat last night—introductions were unnecessary.
Stefan’s brow wrinkled with his sudden frown. “What’s going on here?” He looked from Dustin to Stefanie. “Oh, shit. Hawk, what did you do?”
The silence divulged as much as a full confession would.
Stefan groaned like a dying animal. “Really, man? My sister?”
“We didn’t do anything,” Dustin said, holding his hands up.
“Hey!” Stef smacked his chest. “What we did last night was not nothing. Do you think I go up to random guys’ rooms all the time?”
“My sister!” Stefan said again.
“Oh, get over it,” Stef said. She turned back to Dustin. “You knew who I was last night, didn’t you? I cannot believe you didn’t tell me that you’re my brother’s best man.”
The edge of his mouth hitched up in the most deliciously wicked way.
“You never asked,” he answered, his voice tinged with amusement. That same smile that she’d thought was so sexy a minute ago made her blood boil with rage.
And, yes, a bit of excitement too. Dammit.
Stef was so mad she wanted to hit him. “I cannot believe you.”
“Why does it matter?” he asked.
“Why does it matter? You don’t think me sleeping with my brother’s boss matters—”
“Hold on,” Stefan said, cutting her off. “I’m gonna need the two of you to stop talking. Right now. I’m not spending my wedding day imagining whatever did or didn’t happen between you two.” He pointed a threatening finger at Dustin. “Be glad I don’t want to mess up Callie’s wedding pictures with you standing there beside me with a black eye, because I’m ready to kick your ass.”
“Nothing happened,” Dustin said.
“Stop saying that!” Stefanie said.
“Just please stop talking. Both of you.” Stefan tugged Dustin by his shirt sleeve. “Come on. Callie booked us appointments at the on-site barber to get all shaved and cleaned up for the wedding.”
Dustin hesitated for a moment, his searing gaze penetrating the wall of righteous indignation Stef had started to build around herself. She turned away, refusing to look in his direction.
With the express purpose of avoiding him, Stef returned to her room, staying there until it was time to join Callie, Kiera and Jada in the suite where they were getting their hair and makeup done before the wedding.
She joined the wedding party on the beach at the start of the sunset ceremony, but when Dustin tried to speak to her, she sailed past him, not giving him a chance to say a word before he had to move forward in his role as
best man.
As she stood on the white beach, watching Stefan and Callie exchange their vows, Stef was blown away by how beautiful her sister-in-law looked in her gorgeous bone-colored sheath wedding gown. It flawlessly curved over Callie’s willowy frame; its elegant, sweetheart neckline adding the perfect touch. The simple bouquet of deep purple orchids completed the picture. There was no doubt about it, Callie was breathtaking.
Stef tried her hardest not to cry, but seeing the love radiating between her brother and his bride was too much for her sentimental heart to withstand. She could not be happier with the woman Stefan had chosen to share his life with. She already felt as if Callie was the sister she had always wanted.
As difficult as it was, Stef staunchly avoided Dustin’s gaze. But every time she happened to catch it, he was looking at her, his eyes piercing her with entreaty. She ignored him. She wasn’t ready to forgive him just yet.
Once the wedding was finished and the post-ceremony party began, dodging him looked as if it were going to be next to impossible. There were only fifteen people in attendance, Stefan and Callie’s closest friends and family, so the chances of avoiding any one person was practically nil, especially given the size of the private area of the beach that had been cordoned off for the wedding reception. Stef decided to give up even trying.
She looked to where the steel drum band had set up their instruments and once again caught Dustin staring at her. When she didn’t immediately look away, he apparently took it as permission to approach.
He strolled barefoot through the sand, his hands shoved into the pockets of the bone-colored linen pants he and the other groomsmen had worn for the ceremony. The tail end of his collarless white shirt blew in the gentle breeze coming off the ocean.
He stopped a couple of feet in front of her, but her body still heated from his nearness. Several moments drifted by before he finally spoke, his voice soft, but edged with a note of cautious humor.
“Are you still mad at me?”
“Yes,” Stef answered.
He dipped his head until they were eye-level with each other. “You didn’t have a problem with me before you knew that Stefan and I were friends,” he said, his tone more earnest than amused. “Why does it have to change now?”
“Because you lied to me. Why didn’t you just tell me who you really were?”
“The truth?”
She propped a fist on the fabric that gathered at the hip of her crinkled chiffon dress and continued to stare at him.
He blew out an exasperated breath. “Fine. I didn’t say anything because I figured the minute you discovered that I wasn’t just some random guy, you would clam up on me, and I didn’t want our night to end. I was enjoying myself too much.”
She would not allow his sweet words or the adorable contriteness in his eyes to sway her. She was stronger than that.
“When did you realize I was Stefan’s sister?” she asked.
“When you mentioned that you were an army nurse,” he admitted. “I should have known the moment you told me your name. Hell, I should have known just by looking at you. It’s amazing how much you can look like him, yet still be so damn gorgeous.”
Stef felt a blush creeping up her neck. Damn him.
She looked toward the last rays of the sun setting over the water. “You can keep that flattery. It’s not going to work on me.”
“Oh, come on,” he said, amusement shimmering in his voice. “It’s my best asset.” Two of his fingers caught her chin and turned her face toward him. “Are you really still upset?”
“Yes. I don’t like being lied to.” Despite her efforts to curb it, she felt a grin forming. “But give me a few minutes. There’s a possibility I’ll get over it.”
The smile that gradually slid over his lips was both devastating and disarming. Stefanie had a feeling that he only brought it out when he really needed help getting out of the doghouse. It was working.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, his fingers resting lightly at the small of her back. Together they swayed to the mellow timbre of the steel drums.
“I apologize for not saying anything,” he said. “I swear I wasn’t trying to deceive you, but I didn’t want to scare you off. If you knew who I was, you would have thanked me for that drink and that would have been the end of it. Admit it.”
“It would have,” she said, unable to deny the truth in that. “You were supposed to be a one-night thing. Even though, in the end we didn’t do anything, just imagine how humiliated I would be today if something had happened between us?”
“Why would you be humiliated? There’s nothing wrong with what we did last night. And even if we’d done more, it wouldn’t have been anything you should be ashamed of. We’re both single.” He tipped her chin up. “And, just in case you were wondering, I would be more than willing to try again tonight.”
Stef slapped his hand, even as need drizzled down her spine. “I told you that last night was a one-time thing. It was a silly dare. I’ve never been good at backing away from a dare.”
“Is that so? Well.” He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “I dare you to leave this reception this instant and come up to my room with me.”
“Save it. It’s not going to work.”
“I double-dog dare you.”
She pushed away from him. “I give up.”
“Okay, okay,” he said, tugging her back into his arms. “I’ll be serious.”
“Are you even capable of being serious?”
“Only when the Colorado Rockies make it to the post-season, or when mercury is in retrograde.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Being serious all the time is highly overrated,” he said. “You said last night that you wanted to have some fun while you’re on vacation. If you want fun, I’m your man.”
She was so tempted. God, was she tempted.
She didn’t know much about Dustin “Hawk” Patrick, but one thing she did know was how he made her feel when she was with him. She’d felt alive last night. She’d felt like the Stefanie she used to be—the fearless, fun-loving girl who wasn’t afraid to let her hair down and enjoy life.
She wanted this. She wanted him. She wanted to feel like that girl just one more time before reality bombarded her when she returned to work on Tuesday morning.
“What do you say, Stefanie? You’re here until Monday, right? Let me show you a good time.”
Say yes!
But before she could say anything, the photographer came over and instructed them to meet at the head table for the wedding toast and cake cutting.
Maybe it was for the best that his question went unanswered. As much as she missed the reckless abandon that once epitomized her existence, she could never forget the cost when that recklessness finally caught up to her. She glanced quickly at her father; whose censure always served as a relentless reminder of that long ago incident that had changed everything.
She could not allow Dustin, or anyone else, to lead her down that path again. In the end, she would only regret it.
~ ~ ~ ~
Dustin stood at the edge of the linen-draped bamboo tent that had been constructed on the beach to shield the reception guests from the brisk night-wind blowing off the ocean. He cradled a glass of bourbon in one hand while the other, out of habit, rubbed the spot on his hip where a crescent-shaped scar resided, a parting gift from his last week of combat in Afghanistan. The scar had become an odd sort of security blanket, the anchor he turned to when he needed to ruminate on something weighing on his mind.
Over the past few months, questions surrounding Hawk Offshore Transportation had sent him seeking comfort in that tangible reminder of how difficult life can be. The ridged line of knotted flesh never failed to put whatever was troubling him into perspective. In the grand scheme of things, he was lucky. A knick here, a scratch there, and a company worth millions. Yeah, he was lucky.
However, tonight’s pondering had nothing to do with his company and everything to do with
the woman standing several yards away, the gauzy fabric of her light-green dress billowing in the breeze.
He studied Stefanie’s profile as she stood next to her new sister-in-law, toasting Callie and Stefan on their marriage. No matter how hard he’d fought the urge to seek her out during the wedding and reception, Dustin couldn’t stop his gaze from roaming to locate her.
From the moment she’d left him in his room last night, hot, bothered and in need of a cold shower, he’d been terrified of how things would play out when she discovered that he was Stefan’s friend and boss. He’d figured she would be pissed, but he’d been floored at how quickly she seemed to have forgiven him.
Whether her forgiveness meant that she’d want anything to do with him after tonight was another question, but at least they were headed in the right direction.
Stefanie was that rare combination that had eluded him for much of his life—funny, sexy, daring, sensitive, and brave. She had a fire burning in her spirit that called to him. It was the same fire that burned in him. He’d sensed it from the moment he sat down next to her.
She wanted their time together to be limited to those few hours they’d shared yesterday and tonight. Dustin wasn’t willing to accept that. Even though he probably should if he wanted to preserve a semblance of a relationship with his best friend.
Stefan had been on the verge of calling him out when he thought that Stefanie had spent the night in his bed, but Dustin had grown up fighting his two older brothers. He could take a good lick as well as dish a few out.
He wasn’t going to fight his friend. Because Stefan knew the kind of man Dustin was, and even though he wouldn’t admit it, he knew that Dustin was good enough for his sister.
Now, he just had to figure out how to make Stefanie see that he was good for her too. The spark between them had been too instantaneous, too electric. He wasn’t sure if this was meant to last more than just this weekend; all he knew was that he had to have more of her.
She looked over at him and their gazes connected. After a brief pause to talk to her parents, she walked over to him. The fact that she sought him out this time gave Dustin just the shot of hope he needed.
I Dare You! Page 3